Ocala, Fla. - The Youngstown State men's and women's swimming and diving programs delivered numerous impressive finishes in the postseason CSCAA National Invitational Championship that concluded on Saturday evening at the Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training (FAST) facility.
Gavin Webb led the Penguins with a top-three finish in the 500 free. He swam a school-record time of 4:24.69 to best his preliminary time by nearly five seconds and grab one of the top spots in the event. Webb also advanced to the A-final in the 400 IM, where he clocked a 3:54.09 for eighth place.
James Slessor and Dominic Bono each advanced to the B final in their respective events. James Slessor clocked a school-record time of 54.54 in the 100 breast to best his own program record and advance to the finals. He finished 20th in the event with a time of 54.64. Dominic Bono advanced to the B final in the 200 back where he finished 20th with a time of 1:50.06.
In addition to their finals' performances, Bono placed 22nd in the 400 IM with a time of 3:59.46 while Slessor placed 26th in the 200 breast with a time of 2:01.39 and 27th in the 50 breast with a time of 25.51.
Other top-20 finishes include Christian Taylor's top-eight performance in the 1650 free and top-12 finish in the 1000 free. Taylor clocked a 15:44.26 in the 1650 free and a 9:27.84 in the 1000 free in his impressive outing. Taylor also earned a top-30 finish in the 500 free, placing 29th with a time of 4:37.23.
Another top-30 finish by the Penguins was Jasper Liekens who rounded out the top 30 in the 200 fly with a time of 1:52.70. Rares Druga placed 29th in the 200 free with a time of 1:41.00.
In relays, the men's squad clocked a time of 1:23.49 in the 200 free relay with Druga, Kyle Mizell, Slessor, and Gavin Redden competing. In the 200 medley relay, the same four Penguins clocked a 1:31.33 while the quartet clocked a 3:01.22 in the 400 free relay. In the 800 free relay, the team of Druga, Liekens, Taylor, and Webb swam a time of 6:43.34.
Overall, the men placed 17th out of 36 teams represented at the NIC, earning 159 points. In team standings, the Penguins were ahead of IUPUI, Cincinnati, SDSU, Niagara, among others.
The four Penguin women competing in the CSCAA NIC swam in the 800 free relay where they clocked a time of 7:36.54. The squad of Miriam Frass, Hailey Clark, Madelyn Mahoney, and Brooke Schuette placed 28th in the event.
Frass and Clark also competed in individual events. Frass finished 29th in the 1000 free with a time of 10:21.96 and 30th in the 1650 free with a time of 17:06.52. Frass also competed in the 500 free and 400 IM, placing 51st in the 500 free with a time of 5:02.58 and 53rd in the 400 IM with a time of 4:31.90.
Clark placed 31st in the 1650 free with a time of 17:09.51 and finished 33rd in the 1000 free with a time of 10:22.90.
The women scored 21 points at the meet to finish 48th out of 54 teams.
